Two years ago, we planted many native trees, of only 30 cm in height. Now, many of these trees have grown to over four meters high!

We have also been finding regenerating species that were not planted by us, which is one of the best signs that our ecological restoration efforts are working. None of this would have been possible without all of the support we receive from our wonderful sponsor partners. Thank you for your commitment to realising the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor.  Below, please see a video message from our initiator Ben Valks, straight from the field!

These healthy and resilient trees, growing at the heart of the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor, are only the start. It motivates us to see how far our restoration efforts have come, and we look forward to planting many more trees!  

Royal De Heus, one of BJF’s international partners  won one of the Dutch-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (Dutcham)’s  sustainability awards and opened their sixth factory in Brazil! We are excited to see how Royal De Heus is working towards making food production more sustainable. Keep reading for some of De Heus’ most recent milestones in 2023.

Dutch-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce’s Inspire Award Dinner

Thanks to the generous invitation from our long-term partner De Heus, the Black Jaguar Foundation able to participate in the Inspire Award Dinner, organised by the Dutch-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. This major event in São Paulo was hosted by the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte.

It was a great night!  De Heus Brazil won one of the 4 Inspire Awards for their Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, partly because of their partnership with the Black Jaguar Foundation. 

The “Dutcham Inspire Awards 2023” is an initiative that selects the most inspiring projects of 2022 in the field of a more sustainable and socially responsible business conduct in Brazil.  This year, De Heus Brasil’s sustainability program, Responsible Feeding, joined forces with the Wow Project in 2022, which aimed to address specific common issues. The project’s focus was on providing a “Transformative Look” focussing on the issue of plastic waste, which negatively impacts ecosystems worldwide. De Heus organized a voluntary cleanup event in cities where their offices are located. They collected more than six tons of waste, which was sent to recycling cooperatives. 

Further, De Heus visited the Black Jaguar Foundations’ project in Santana do Araguaia to see how their donations are greatly contributing to our process of ecological restoration process and helping us bring back biodiversity.  

During the event, our Planting season video was played on the big screen for all of the corporate and diplomatic leaders present, such as Mrs. Ingrid Thijssen (President of VNO-NCW), the Dutch Ambassador for Brazil and corporate leaders of other Dutch multinationals in Brazil.

At the end of the event, we also distributed some seeds that are native to the Araguaia Region:

Opening of De Heus 6th Factory

At the start May, our loyal partner Royal De Heus also inaugurated their new factory in Itaberaí (Goiás)! The event welcomed around 400 participants and was a big success.

The CEOs of Royal de Heus, Mr. Koen De Heus and Mr. Co De Heus, and the president of De Heus Brasil, Rinus Donkers, were also all present at the opening of the 6^th Royal de Heus factory.

We are excited to see how Royal De Heus is expanding and working towards a making food production more sustainable.

A big thank you to Royal De Heus for inviting us to this wonderful event and ensuring that the Black Jaguar Foundation was present in all aspects of it! Below, you can see pictures of our planting season video, played on loop throughout the event, the seeds participants could pick up at the very prominent BJF corner, and pictures made and printed directly at the event – all of which also included the BJF logo!

Would you like to support this and other initiatives of the Black Jaguar Foundation? Join the First 600 and become part of our movement!

JOIN US!

We are very excited to introduce you to Sumthing: a platform that is working hard to create a visibly nature positive world. Sumthing has been providing full visibility of the results of our project and helping the Black Jaguar Foundation to make a real, tangible impact. Together, we are growing the BJF community and showing that anyone can make a difference – it’s too late to be a pessimist! 

About Sumthing

Sumthing brings transparency to environmental action by providing real-world proof for each contribution. Planting a tree or building a coral reef to doesn’t happen overnight and that’s why they transparently share the status of each contribution until after the project has been completed.  

How is Sumthing helping us increase visibility of the realisation of the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor?

Sumthing has created several different tools that are helping us showcase the progress of the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor.    

An example of this is the beautiful widget below, which shows where our partner’s trees are located, and how their tree looks at this stage: 

Further, they showcase tangible measurements of how our project of ecological restoration and emphasise that almost half of the cost of planting a tree will go towards maintaining it and ensuring its growth. At the Black Jaguar Foundation, we carry out 17 steps to safeguard healthy forests.   

When you make a donation to the Black Jaguar Foundation via the Sumthing platform, you receive:  

Growing the BJF community together

By providing us with exciting new widgets and tools to showcase our results, Sumthing is also helping us grow our existing community of sponsor partners.

At the moment, some of our Sumthing x BJF donors include:

• Green Gear Supply: a company that aims to inspire a more sustainable and equitable world through innovative products – starting with their rain poncho. Their reusable and recyclable poncho is made from responsibly sourced materials and perfect for outdoor activities! 

• Mutsy: a brand that creates beautiful strollers with our future generations in mind!
• Many individual donors which are showcased on their impact page:  

Can you see how easy it is for anyone, anywhere, to make a positive difference for the planet? Join us today by clicking HERE or send an email to info@black-jaguar.org to find out more!.

Are you in need of a new office or home in Amsterdam, Utrecht, or Zwolle?

Jetze Steensma is expert in real estate, which includes selling and leasing back Offices, investing in and developing offices, and creating building plans that are good for you and the Earth. Jetze sees sustainability as one with real estate. His policy is to connect every project with the question – is this sustainable or not? If not, he can’t stand behind it!

As Jetze puts it:

“Contributing to Sustainable and Circular building development is what makes our heart tick“

By focusing on sustainable projects that are both price competitive and circular, Jetze’s company, Mijn Steen, is shaping the world of real estate.

The Real Estate market is focussing increasingly on wood and stone. As real estate consultant and developer, Mijn Steen has often been asked to assess the possibilities of wood and stone as sustainable building components. After speaking about this with various experts in the field, they came to the conclusion that both materials can be used responsibly.

The advantage of wood is that wood exists as a result of photosynthesis; converting carbon dioxide into oxygen and (growth) sugars. This is one of the oldest and most sustainable processes of our world. Mijnsteen.eu is a specialist in sustainable development and is committed to sustainable housing. Our motto for timber construction is to provide a solid replanting program to protect forests, forestry and landowners.

Besides ensuring more sustainable design of the buildings they develop, Mijn Steen also supports the Black Jaguar Foundation in realizing the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor!

The Black Jaguar Foundation is very grateful to have Mijn Steen as a sponsor partner and BJF friend. A few years ago, we were in need of a new office and Jetze very kindly procured a location which is now partially sponsored by Scalehub! Have a look at our lovely office space below:

Our new office even has a special Black Jaguar Foundation promotional stand at its entrance – so that anyone entering the building can immediately get to know us!

Find out more about mijnsteen.eu HERE!